A-8-1 Related Organization Overview

The A-8-1 Related Organization Cost interface allows for the compilation and analysis of related organization and home office expenses, and displays a summary for offset. The total amount offset on A-8-1 will flow to the A-8 Summary in Absolute. This section is comprised of two sections/tab as follows:

The A-8-1 Setup tab allows the user to identify A-8-1 Column 5 amounts (expenses included in Worksheet A) either via filtered GL accounts or by entering external amounts (if these expenses aren't easily identifiable in a specific GL account).

The Allowable Expense Adjustments tab allows for setting up the adjustments for each A-8-1 line generated from A-8-1 Setup. Users will also enter in the Allowable Home Office or Related Party Expense for each A-8-1 Line on this tab (for A-8-1 Column 4 reporting). 

A-8-1 Setup Tab

This tab allows for setting up A-8-1 Column 5 amounts either via account filters or by manually adding External Values.

Account Filters:

Accounts can be selected for inclusion on A-8-1 Column 5 via account filters. The Account Selector allows the selecting of accounts for the account pool for inclusion on A-8-1 Column 5. Accounts are selected via filters, which can contain one or more rules. The accounts that fall under these rules are added to the account pool.

For more information on how to filter, please review the related article: Overview of Filters

Selected GL Accounts:

An account must either be offset or given an explanation as to why it isn't being offset to be considered complete.

• Adjusting an account: Click the adjustment cell. This opens up the adjustment form. Click the Type field to open the type selector. Select the desired operation.

  Percentage - Select to adjust account(s) by a percentage (ex. 23.7%).

  Fixed Amount - Select to adjust account(s) by a dollar amount (ex. $100).

• Value:  

  For a Percentage, enter the percentage to adjust by. (ex. 23%).

  For a Fixed Amount, enter the dollar value of the adjustment operation (ex. $100).

• A-8-1 Line: Enter the A-8-1 line number the adjustment will be applied to. It must be a number between 1-3, or 4 with optional two decimal points.
• Source: To attach a support paper from the Source Documents pool, click the Source field to select the desired uploaded support paper from the list. Only PDFs are allowed to be attached as a source document.
• To Add the Operation: After entering a new value in the input box, click the O button to enter the changes, or click the X button to cancel.
• Excluding an account: Click the exclude box to open up the explanation input. Enter an explanation as to why the account is being excluded. After entering a new explanation in the input box, click the O button to enter the changes, or click the X button to cancel.
• Comment: Click the Comment button to open up the comment window. Enter a comment about the account being offset, up to 160 characters. Click the O to update the comment. You can enter a blank field to clear out the comment. Any account with a comment will show an orange filled icon. Hovering the mouse over the comment button will display any comments already added.

Manually Add A-8-1 Lines / WS A Amount

This section will allow you to add an A-8-1 line with no associated Worksheet A costs or assign a specific worksheet A amount to an A-8-1 line without identifying the associated GL account.

• Description: Add a description for the amount. This can be up to 160 alphanumeric characters.
• Value: If entering an A-8-1 Line with no WS A Column 5 costs, enter 0. If entering a specific WS A amount, enter the dollar value of the amount (ex. $100).
• A Line:  Enter the Worksheet A line number. The line number may be entered by typing it in the text box, or by clicking the Select Line button and selecting the line number from the list.
• A-8-1 Line: Enter the A-8-1 line number the adjustment will be applied to. It must be a number between 1-3, or 4 with optional two decimal points. Only one WS A line is allowed to be associated with each A-8-1 line.
• Source: To attach a support paper from the Source Documents pool, click the Source field to select the desired uploaded support paper from the list.
• To add the A-8-1 line/WS A amount: Click the O button to add the A-8-1 line/WS A amount, or click the X button to cancel.

Allowable Expense Adjustments tab

This tab summarizes the Worksheet A-8-1 Column 5 amounts, which are automatically brought over from the A-8-1 Setup tab, and allows for the input of A-8-1 Column 4 Allowable amounts. This tab also calculates the total A-8-1 adjustment by line. 

The A-8-1 Line Adjustments section displays a summary of A-8-1 values for reporting on the Medicare Cost Report, and allows for editing of the A-8-1 Line Description, attaching source documents, entering Column 4 Allowable Amounts, adding A-7 references and designating values as Interest Expense. To open any line for editing, click on "Edit" to the right-hand side of that row. The following values may be edited/input:

• A-8-1 Line Description Column: Enter the applicable A-8-1 line description. The description must be 160 characters or less. Once entered, click the O to confirm, or X to cancel.
• Source Column: To add or change a source document associated with the line, click the Select button. Select the desired document from Source Document pool list. Only pdfs may be attached to a line.
• Allowable Expense Column: Enter the amount of home office related organization costs that are allowable.
• Worksheet A-7 Reference: This value is required for A-8-1 lines affecting capital lines. The A-7 reference may be selected from the drop down menu. 
• I E (Interest Expense): Check the I E box if it is interest expense. This value will then flow through to the Interest Expense Adjustments.

The WS A Amount flows from the A-8-1 Setup tab, and the Adjustment amount is a calculated field.

Other Items to Note

• To clear an A-8-1 Line: While an A-8-1 line has selected accounts associated with it, the data for the line may not be totally deleted, but the values for A-8-1 Line Description, Source, Allowable Expense, A-7 Ref, and I E may be cleared by clicking Clear. Then, Click the O button to clear the row, or X to cancel.
• Orphaned A-8-1 adjustments: If an existing A-8-1 line adjustment has all related selected accounts removed, the adjustment data will display in red with N/A for WS A Line, WS A Amount, and Adjustment. Preserving this data is useful if adjustments are created and then associated WS A accounts and lines need to be altered. An A-8-1 line without an associated WS A line is not a valid adjustment and as such its Allowable Expense is not included in the total.

  If the A-8-1 line is no longer needed, it may be deleted by clicking Delete and then, clicking the O button to clear the row, or X to cancel.

Worksheet A-8-1 Data Import

If A-8-1 Column 5 values are not easily identifiable in a particular GL account, or if extensive analysis and adjustments are done to the A-8-1 values prior to reporting on the cost report, Worksheet A-8-1 data may be imported into Absolute via an import template, on the A-8-1 Setup tab. 

Note that Importing data will overwrite all manually added lines and amounts, as well as all amounts inserted on the Adjustments tab. Data can only be imported prior to selecting accounts via filters.

An import template may be downloaded out of Absolute by clicking on the Download Template Link.

The data in this template should conform to the following criteria:

• Column 1: WS A-8-1 line the expenses will be reported on. It must be a number between 1-3, or 4 with optional two decimal places.
• Column 2: A-8-1 line description. It must be 160 characters or less.
• Column 3: WS A line the expenses will be offset against. This must be an existing WS A line.
• Column 4: Allowable expenses. This is the amount of home office related organization costs that are allowable, with an optional $.
• Column 5: WS A7 reference. This is required when the Ws A line is 1, 2, or 113. It must be between 9 and 14.
• Column 6: WS A line amount and is optional. This is the amount on the Ws A line to be offset against.
• The first row in the source file is assumed to contain headers and will be ignored.

Once this template is completed and saved, it may be uploaded into Absolute by clicking on the Import A-8-1 Data option, and browsing to where this file is saved. 

Note: Every row in the source file must pass validation in order for the information to be added to the database. If one or more rows does not pass validation, an error message will display detailing the issue(s) in the row(s).